http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/eudn/2005/1

Commission Decision

of 27 December 2004

authorising methods for grading pig carcases in the Czech Republic

(notified by number C(2004) 2566)

(Only the Czech text is authentic)

(2005/1/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3220/84 of 13 November 1984 determining the Community scale for grading pig carcases1, and in particular Article 5(2) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

Article 2(3) of Regulation (EEC) No 3220/84 provides that the grading of pig carcases must be determined by estimating the content of lean meat in accordance with statistically proven assessment methods based on the physical measurement of one or more anatomical parts of the pig carcase; the authorisation of grading methods is subject to compliance with a maximum tolerance for statistical error in assessment; this tolerance was defined in Article 3 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2967/85 of 24 October 1985 laying down detailed rules for the application of the Community scale for grading pig carcases2.

(2)

The Government of the Czech Republic has requested the Commission to authorise four methods for grading pig carcases and has submitted the results of its dissection trials which were executed before the day of accession, by presenting part two of the protocol provided for in Article 3 of Regulation (EEC) No 2967/85.

(3)

The evaluation of this request has revealed that the conditions for authorising these grading methods are fulfilled.

(4)

No modification of the apparata or grading methods may be authorised except by means of a new Commission Decision adopted in the light of experience gained; for this reason, the present authorisation may be revoked.

(5)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Pigmeat,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The use of the following methods is hereby authorised for grading pig carcases pursuant to Regulation (EEC) No 3220/84 in the Czech Republic:

the grading method known as ‘Zwei-Punkte-Messverfahren (ZP)’ and assessment methods related thereto, details of which are given in Part 1 of the Annex,
the apparatus termed ‘Fat-O-Meater (FOM)’ and assessment methods related thereto, details of which are given in Part 2 of the Annex,
the apparatus termed ‘Hennessy Grading Probe (HGP 4)’ and assessment methods related thereto, details of which are given in Part 3 of the Annex,
the apparatus termed ‘Ultra FOM 300’ and assessment methods related thereto, details of which are given in Part 4 of the AnnexF1,
F2the apparatus termed ‘ Ultra-sound IS-D-05 ’ and assessment methods related thereto, details of which are given in Part 5 of the Annex,
the apparatus termed ‘ Needle IS-D-15 ’ and assessment methods related thereto, details of which are given in Part 6 of the Annex.

F1The grading method ‘ Zwei-Punkte-Messverfahren (ZP) ’ may be applied only in slaughterhouses which do not exceed a weekly slaughtering of 200 pigs in annual average.

F3As regards the apparatus ‘Ultra FOM 300’ and ‘Ultra-sound IS-D-05’ it is laid down that after the end of the measurement procedure it must be possible to verify on the carcass that the apparatus measured the values of measurement P ₂ on the site provided for in the Annex, Part 4, point 3 and Part 5, point 3. The corresponding marking of the measurement site must be made at the same time as the measurement procedure.

F3Article 1a

Notwithstanding the standard presentation laid down in the first paragraph of point B.III of Annex V to Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007, pig carcasses in the Czech Republic may be presented:

(a)
without ears, ears having been removed before the carcass is being weighed and graded. In the case of such presentation the recorded hot carcass weight shall be adjusted in accordance with the following formula:
$hot carcass weight = weight of hot carcass without ears + 0,274 kg$ ; and
(b)
without the flare fat having been removed before being weighed and graded. In the case of such presentation the recorded hot carcass weight shall be adjusted in accordance with the following formula:
$hot carcass weight = 1,65651 + 0,96139 × weight of the hot carcass with the flare fat$ ; and
(c)
without the flare fat having been removed and without ears, ears having been removed before the carcass is being weighed and graded. In the case of such presentation the recorded hot carcass weight shall be adjusted in accordance with the following formula:
$hot carcass weight = 1,65651 + 0,96139 × (weight of the hot carcass with the flare fat and without ears + 0,274 kg)$ .

F3Article 2

Modifications of the authorised apparatus or grading methods shall not be allowed, unless those modifications are explicitly authorised by Commission Implementing Decision.

Article 3

This Decision is addressed to the Czech Republic.

ANNEXMethods for grading pig carcases in the Czech Republic

PART 1Zwei-Punkte-Messverfahren (ZP)

1.

Grading of pig carcases shall be carried out by use of the method termed ‘Zwei-Punkte-Messverfahren (ZP)’.

F32.The lean meat content of the carcass shall be calculated according to the following formula:

$Ŷ = 59,08991 – 0,43868 × S + 0,09792 × M$

where:

Ŷ
the estimated percentage of lean meat in the carcass,
S
fat measure, measured by a slide rule — the minimum thickness of visible fat (including rind) covering the M. gluteus medius on the midline of the split carcass (mm),
M
meat measure, measured by a slide rule at the shortest connection between the front (cranial) end of the M. gluteus medius and the upper (dorsal) edge of the vertebral canal (mm).

This formula shall be valid for carcasses weighing between 60 and 120 kilograms.

PART 2Fat-O-Meater (FOM)

1.

Grading of pig carcases shall be carried out by means of the apparatus termed ‘Fat-O-Meater (FOM)’.

2.

The apparatus shall be equipped with a probe of six millimetres diameter containing a photodiode of the Siemens SFH 950/960 type and having an operating distance of between 3 and 103 millimetres. The results of the measurements are converted into estimated lean meat content by means of a computer.

F33.The lean meat content of the carcass shall be calculated according to the following formula:

$Ŷ = 70,28164 – 0,75376 × S + 0,00270 × M$

where:

Ŷ
the estimated percentage of lean meat in the carcass,
S
the thickness of back-fat (including rind) in millimetres, measured at 6,5 centimetres off the midline of the carcass, between the second and third last ribs,
M
the thickness of muscle in millimetres, measured at the same time and in the same place as S.

This formula shall be valid for carcasses weighing between 60 and 120 kilograms.

PART 3Hennessy Grading Probe (HGP 4)

1.

Grading of pig carcases shall be carried out by means of the apparatus termed ‘Hennessy Grading Probe (HGP 4)’.

2.

The apparatus shall be equipped with a probe of 5,95 millimetres diameter (and of 6,3 millimetres at the blade on top of the probe) containing a photodiode (Siemens LED of the type LYU 260-EO) and photodetector of the type 58 MR and having an operating distance of between 0 and 120 millimetres. The results of the measurements shall be converted into estimated lean meat content by means of the HGP 4 itself or a computer linked to it.

F33.The lean meat content of the carcass shall be calculated according to the following formula:

$Ŷ = 69,11354 – 0,67804 × S + 0,00432 × M$

where:

Ŷ
the estimated percentage of lean meat in the carcass,
S
the thickness of back-fat (including rind) in millimetres, measured at 7 centimetres from the midline of the carcass, between the third and fourth last ribs,
M
the thickness of muscle in millimetres, measured at the same time and in the same place as S.

This formula shall be valid for carcasses weighing between 60 and 120 kilograms.

PART 4ULTRA-FOM 300

1.

Grading of pig carcases shall be carried out by means of the apparatus termed ‘Ultra-FOM 300’.

2.The apparatus shall be equipped with an ultrasonic probe at 3,5 MHz. The ultrasonic signal is digitised, stored and processed by a microprocessor.

The results of the measurements shall be converted into estimated lean meat content by means of the Ultra-FOM apparatus itself.

F33.The lean meat content of the carcase shall be calculated according to the following formula:

$Ŷ = 66,78382 – 0,80922 × S + 0,04746 × M$

where:

Ŷ
the estimated percentage of lean meat in the carcass,
S
the thickness of back-fat (including rind) in millimetres, measured at 7 centimetres off the midline of the carcass between the second and third last ribs (measurement known as ‘P ₂ ’),
M
the thickness of muscle in millimetres, measured at the same time and in the same place as S.

This formula shall be valid for carcasses weighing between 60 and 120 kilograms.

F2PART 5Ultra-sound IS-D-05

1.

Grading of pig carcasses shall be carried out by use of the method termed ‘ Ultra-sound IS-D-05 ’ .

2.

The grading apparatus IS-D-05 is a device for measuring the lean meat and fat thickness on the basis of response analysis of the range of ultrasonic impulses which are transmitted in sequence into the carcass in the specified place. Ultrasonic probe scans treated carcasses with the set of 3 × 100 ultrasonic impulses at frequency of 4 MHz in the time of scanning.

F33. The lean meat content of the carcass shall be calculated according to the following formula:

$Ŷ = 66,01987 – 0,69560 × S + 0,01947 × M$

where:

Ŷ
the estimated percentage of lean meat in the carcass,
S
the thickness of back-fat (including rind) in millimetres, measured at 7 centimetres off the midline of the carcass between the second and third last ribs (measurement known as ‘ P ₂ ’ ),
M
the thickness of muscle in millimetres, measured at the same time and in the same place as S.

This formula shall be valid for carcasses weighing between 60 and 120 kilograms.

PART 6Needle IS-D-15

1.

Grading of pig carcasses shall be carried out by use of the method termed ‘ Needle IS-D-15 ’ .

2.

The grading apparatus IS-D-15 is a device using a sharp needle probe which is inserted into a given place of the carcass; the insertion depth is about 140 mm. A special engineered optical set is located behind the needle that by the means of an optical channel enlightens the surrounding tissue or area and scans the amount of reflected light energy with the defined wavelength. The terminal is also equipped with a precise contactless measuring device which determines the current insertion depth with 46 micrometer precision.

F33. The lean meat content of the carcass shall be calculated according to the following formula:

$Ŷ = 66,37105 – 0,80124 × S + 0,05507 × M$

where:

Ŷ
the estimated percentage of lean meat in the carcass,
S
the thickness of back-fat (including rind) in millimetres, measured at 7,5 centimetres off the midline of the carcass between the second and third last ribs,
M
the thickness of muscle in millimetres, measured at the same time and in the same place as S.

This formula shall be valid for carcasses weighing between 60 and 120 kilograms.